The Nike Swoosh is not only the most recognizable logo in the sportswear industry, but also maybe in the world. The story goes that it was designed by Portland State student Carolyn Davidson for a mere $35 in 1971. Since then, Nike has done everything imaginable to the Swoosh. It’s been made with a fat belly, made mini, made out of a jewel casing, put it on the soles, removed from sneakers, and even been 3D printed. It’s also been turned backwards.
Travis Scott notably did this to his Air Jordan 1 collaboration in 2019. But he’s not the first person to do this to a Nike sneaker. UFC fighter-turned-comedian Brendan Schaub said on his podcast in 2020: “Here's another thing for you fucking kids who don't know kicks, if you thought Travis Scott was the first guy to put a Swoosh backwards on a shoe. You don't know shit. Dennis Rodman was the first to do it."
With that in mind, we wanted to go back in time and track down the most notable Nike sneakers ever to don a backwards Swoosh. From Dennis Rodman to Travis Scott, here's a history of Nike's backwards Swoosh.
(This isn't an extensive history of every single shoe to ever have a backwards Swoosh, sorry, some of them aren't worth writing about.)
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Nike Air Darwin
Year: 1994
The Air Darwin is an under-celebrated sneaker in Nike’s catalog. Yes, it has been retroed and even updated with 360 Air soles. But in the pantheon of ‘90s Nike basketball sneakers, it goes unnoticed to a degree. The design itself is very utilitarian. It appears more boot than basketball shoe, something designed to put in work while wearing—much like the man who wore the shoes, Dennis Rodman. It was Nike’s third outdoor basketball sneaker, after the Air Raid in 1992 and its follow up the Air Raid 2, and built to withstand a beating. This is not an official Rodman signature sneaker, although he wore it in the 1994 season while he played for the San Antonio Spurs, a year before he’d go to the Chicago Bulls. What’s most memorable about the shoes, from a historical perspective, is the backwards Nike Swoosh near the heel of the upper. It was an odd adaptation, but in Darwinian fashion the element would evolve over time.
Nike Air Flare
Year: 1994
Andre Kirk Agassi, our Armenian lord and savior, is best remembered for his mullet wig, denim shorts, and neon sneakers from the early ‘90s. But one of the most important sneakers that he wore wasn’t one of the Tech Challenge designs, but rather the Air Flare. Agassi won his first US Open in 1994 (his second of eight Grand Slams) in them. The shoes were a departure from his previous sneakers that came in Hot Lava, Neon Yellow, and a pattern that looked like Joseph's Technicolor Dreamcoat. The Flares were white and black with a tiny reversed Swoosh on the upper. This is the most subtle and nuanced sneaker for Agassi. He was all business in these. The sneaker saw a retro in 2007 and 2014.
Nike Air Yoke
Year: 1995
This sneaker doesn’t have much historical significance. It’s a low-top, takedown outdoor basketball sneaker with a backwards Swoosh towards the heel. Looks cool, but a forgettable moment in Nike’s long history. There was also a Nike Air Penetrator, another outdoor basketball shoe, around the same time. What a name.
Nike Air Ndestrukt
Year: 1995
The category of outdoor-specific basketball sneakers doesn’t really exist in 2020, although Nike makes Kobe sneakers with thicker soles for the Chinese market due to their pension to play on concrete courts. But in the ‘90s, brands made outdoor sneakers, and they just weren’t indoor models with more tread on bottom. The Ndestrukt, as the name suggests, was a tough looking shoe. If you were to ask most people, I’d put money that they think this is an ACG shoe, with its tan upper, almost treaded outsole, and toe cap for extra protection.
Nike LeBron 10
Year: 2012
The Nike LeBron 10 isn’t the most memorable LeBron James sneaker, but it certainly had its moments. The shoe initially made waves for its $290 price tag. While not all colorways were that expensive, “Sport Pack” editions included a Nike+ unit embedded in the midsole to track athletic performance. More popular was the Cork pair, made to represent James winning the 2012 NBA Championship. On top of that, the sneakers had a reversed Swoosh, which didn’t come across as odd at the time. It was also the last sneaker in James’ sneaker run from the LeBron 7 to LeBron 10, which all featured full-length visible Air units, before the design language on the 11 changed drastically.
Nike Air Max 2015
Year: 2015
The Air Max line changed in 2009 when designer Steven Smith, now with Yeezy, created a true 360-degree Air unit that erased the bulky cage on the Air Max 360 from 2006. It would go on to become the longest-running Air unit until it was retired in 2017 for VaporMax technology (also partially designed by Smith). The Air Max 2015 featured a reverse Swoosh on it—the first for an Air Max shoe. While this model had no real cultural impact, it was a first in the Air Max line.
Nike PG 2
Year: 2018
Paul George is amongst the handful of signature Nike athletes at the moment. He's a handful of sneakers deep, but his best shoe is the PG 2. The best version of it? A PlayStation collaboration complete with a light-up tongue. It also has a reverse Swoosh on the midsole, going with the Nike design language at the time.
Nike Kobe AD NXT
Year: 2017
Kobe Bryant’s sneaker legacy has continued long after he stopped playing in the NBA. Nike still made new signature sneakers on Bryant’s guidance to perform for a new crop of players. The Kobe AD NXT followed the tradition of Bryant’s sneakers in the league, being that it was a low-top shoe. But it had two things we’d never seen before on a Kobe sneaker: For starters it had a shroud on the upper, but the midsole also had a reversed Swoosh on it.
Nike Zoom Freak 1
Year: 2019
Giannis Antetokounmpo is a superstar, an NBA MVP, an international icon, and the owner of a good pair of signature sneakers. The Zoom Freak 1, Antetokounmpo’s first sneaker with Nike, is a low-top basketball shoe that often takes colorway inspiration from his story of coming to America from Greece to become a professional basketball player. The sneaker itself has a huge Swoosh on it. One big difference, though—it’s not on the upper, it’s on the midsole. Also, it’s backwards. Antetokounmpo’s sneakers not only stand out by what he’s done in them, and their story, but also how they look.
Travis Scott x Air Jordan 1
Year: 2019
It’s hyperbolic to say the Travis Scott x Air Jordan 1 changed the way we look at sneakers. But for a younger generation, it’s going to go down as one of the most impactful shoes ever, a perfect storm of a sneaker collaboration. Take the coolest rapper in the game, give him the most iconic Air Jordan sneaker ever, and let him work his magic on it. During an episode of Full Size Run, Chase B, who’s Scott’s close friend and DJ, said, “Being in a fucking room for mad long. We wanted to have our thing,” in regard to why they reversed the Swoosh. “Virgil had the orange tabs. We gotta do something. We gotta push this whole Jordan to the moon.” The shoes made the SNKRS app crash. Scott followed it up on an Air Jordan 1 Low and even a friends-and-family version of his 720 React sneaker. He might not be the one who started the backwards Swoosh trend, but he certainly cemented it in pop culture, and it will be forever tied to his name.
Nike Zoom Freak 4
Year: 2022
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s fourth signature model brought back the backwards Swoosh from the original and utilized it as midfoot support. The Freak 4 is one of the more complex models from Giannis’ signature line, with multiple layers and materials making up the upper, which added a rare element of utility to the design concept. —Zac Dubasik
Travis Scott x Nike Attack
Year: 2023
Depending on who you ask, Travis Scott’s take on the John McEnroe-endorsed Nike Attack is either the perfect subtle flip (literally) on the design, or a lazy cash grab. I personally appreciate the less-is-more approach, and think it offered the perfect level of Travis Scott-detailing without doing the full earthtone treatment that may have been expected (and would have also been criticized). Either way, the ad campaign outshined the actual product, and has gone down as one of the more memorable moments from the rapper’s Nike run. —Zac Dubasik
Travis Scott x Jordan Jumpman Jack (CJ1 T-Rexx)
Year: 2024
Many Travis Scott and sneaker fans alike had long awaited the release of the rapper’s first original silhouette with Jordan Brand, and it finally arrived in February 2024. The moment coincided with Travis’ performance at the Grammys with the launch of the “Sail” Jumpman Jack. Of course, there was a huge reverse Swoosh logo on the lateral side, much like his beloved Air Jordan 1 collabs. —Victor Deng
Nike Ja 3
Year: 2025
Ja Morant’s Nike Ja 3 doesn’t really feature the reverse Swoosh logo on the shoe in the traditional sense, as it appears vertically on the midsole to the upper, which creates a unique way of spelling out “Ja” on the sides. Certain colorways make this element stand out more than others, but it is definitely one of the cooler aspects of the silhouette overall. —Victor Deng
Nike Giannis Freak 7
Year: 2025
While the Nike Freak 7 doesn’t utilize the backwards Swoosh design to quite the extent that Giannis Antetokounmpo’s first signature model, the Freak 1, did, the newest model in the line is a return to the formula that put it on the map. Rather than framing the base of the shoe like the original, or adding midfoot support like the Freak 4, this time the backwards Swoosh enhances the flowing lines that spill onto the upper from the midsole. The result is one of the most interesting models from Giannis’ signature line in quite some time. —Zac Dubasik